WTI Advances a Fifth Day as U.S. Refiners Bolster Output

West Texas Intermediate traded near its highest in five weeks and was set for a quarterly gain after U.S. government data showed refineries raised operating rates.

Futures rose as much as 0.4 percent in New York and have gained 5.2 percent in the past three months. Refineries ran at 85.7 percent of capacity last week, up 2.2 percentage points from the prior week and the most since January, figures from the Energy Department showed yesterday. U.S. crude stockpiles increased 3.3 million barrels, according to the report. They were forecast to gain 1.33 million barrels, an earlier Bloomberg News survey showed.

WTI for May delivery traded 20 cents higher at $96.78 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 10:50 a.m. London time, having earlier climbed as much as 36 cents to $96.94 a barrel. The volume of all futures traded was 43 percent below the 100-day average. The contract rose 0.3 percent yesterday to $96.58, the highest close since Feb. 19. Prices are set for their fourth weekly gain and are 5.1 percent higher this month.

Brent for May settlement was at $109.85 a barrel, up 16 cents, on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The volume of all contracts traded was 25 percent below the 100-day average. The European benchmark grade was at a premium of $13.11 to WTI. It settled at $13.02 on March 26, the narrowest closing level since July.

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Dean Popplewell has nearly two decades of experience trading currencies and fixed income instruments.
He has a deep understanding of market fundamentals and the impact of global events on capital markets.
He is respected among professional traders for his skilled analysis and career history as global head
of trading for firms such as Scotia Capital and BMO Nesbitt Burns. Since joining OANDA in 2006, Dean
has played an instrumental role in driving awareness of the forex market as an emerging asset class
for retail investors, as well as providing expert counsel to a number of internal teams on how to best
serve clients and industry stakeholders.

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